Man Charged with Bringing Gun to Church

By Margaret Lyons in News on Jun 9, 2008 3:31PM

An off-duty police officer arrested a man at Nativity of Our Lord Church this week for allegedly carrying a loaded Glock up to communion. You're supposed to leave the gun in your pew when you get up, dude. Kidding, kidding, you're not allowed to carry the gun at all. Deputy Chief James Keating and Sgt. Joseph Kipka, two regulars at the church, arrested David Kucia of Aurora following the 11am mass.

Keating was kneeling in his pew, having just taken communion himself...when two eagle-eyed ushers knelt beside him and quietly told him someone in the back of church had a gun. The man had just moved the weapon from his back pocket to his waistband -- it was mostly hidden under his shirt -- and was in line for communion. And, they added, nobody at the tight-knit parish recognized him as one of the regular cops who attend.

Keating approached the man outside, who first said he was a cop, then said he needed the gun for protection, and then said he also had a 12-gauge shotgun in his truck. Kucia has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon. [S-T, S-T]